Yeah they are Achievements, but for me Steam Achievements are something that just come up and I never look at them before playing. I (maybe more substantial) cash payoff for doing achievements would be a lot cooler!

I've found "petrify monsters" and "get cursed" to be pretty bad, as well.

I think the broader issue is that the orders of magnitude for these things are just so inconsistent. Things like "accumulate piety" and "deal damage" get cleared incredibly quickly since you do these things every single run without fail, but many of the other advisor tasks take forever and a day because they simply don't occur with the same frequency.

I really don't understand the purpose of the Advisor Tasks in the game. The gold rewards are low enough to not be worth the effort of explicitly seeking to fulfil them, and they don't exactly teach the player anything since the conditions range from 'will always occur' to 'you would have to be deliberately slow-suiciding your characters to complete this any time in the next week'. They're not hurting the game in any way other than just being there, and maybe taking up a panel that could be showing the current PQI or something else extraneously helpful. They're just ... why? *shrug*

At least getting weakened X number of times can be racked up quickly within a single run if it really bothers you. Not so much so for "Desecrate 35 Altars"!

I imagine that they exist to give struggling players a small extra influx of gold to spend on preparations when they''ve otherwise run dry... say, to try and secure a better chance at the next run. Or maybe they can occasionally top off an upgrade cost. Or other such situations. Even tasks like "Get weakened" and such are going to happen eventually (if you spend time in Ick Swamp, in that particular case). It might even act as a suggestion of sorts, like "Hey, want a bit of extra gold? Well, playing as a rogue for a bit is going to at least get you that "doge attacks" bonus fairly soon" kind of thing.

Going from that assumption, it makes sense that those of us who've become comfortable with the game or who can at least win reliably often don't see the impact at all. I also don't know how my assumption actually measures up to the effect I imagine it's meant to have in practice.

The Tasks are there to provide a feeling of progress to players who are otherwise stalled early in the game. Even if you lose a run, the bars move and you stand a chance of being rewarded with some gold. Early on, all the Tasks are themed around stuff you can aim for that won't actually harm your chances of winning either. Tasks fill the lull in progress guidance after the tutorials.

dislekcia wrote:Early on, all the Tasks are themed around stuff you can aim for that won't actually harm your chances of winning either.

And later on, your adviser receives an anonymously initialed letter with a generous donation, causing him to turn sneakily treacherous and when that doesn't work just straight up start whispering "go poison yourself" into your heroes' ears.

dislekcia wrote:Early on, all the Tasks are themed around stuff you can aim for that won't actually harm your chances of winning either.

And later on, your adviser receives an anonymously initialed letter with a generous donation, causing him to turn sneakily treacherous and when that doesn't work just straight up start whispering "go poison yourself" into your heroes' ears.